Mud Season ReviewThrowing Stones at Apple Trees
by John Messick
Along the limestone southern coast of Turkey in the port city of Mersin, tucked amid Roman ruins, fields of iambic columns, and newly built high-rises, I spent three days in a back-alley whorehouse. The sign in front of the building was small, barely visible. “Otel,” it read. Old men sat sipping tea in the lobby…Read more
Shelter
by Sarah Marty-Schlipf
On that warm June afternoon when I first laid eyes on Bently, I’d been on my way to teach a writing class at the county jail. I knew our local no-kill shelter taught inmates at the nearby federal prison to train dogs. Because I was early for work, I stopped in to see the place I’d heard so much about…Read more
An Unexpected Light
by Shuly Cawood
Sometimes I wish we could start over—not so we could change it, but to do it all again. I would rewind the clock eight years to that Saturday night contra dance, after I had escaped the crowds to cry in the back hallway of the Carrboro Century Center. Tsafi hardly knew me, but she followed me anyway…Read more
A Month in a Far Country
by Timothy Kenny
It takes about 10 days of teaching before I realize the chaos of Baku’s streets has decamped to my classroom. Our accents have begun to make sense to each other: the pronunciations less confusing, the awkward syntax mentally transposed. But asking a question…Read more
The Swim Lesson
by R.A. Lev
It’s freezing. He’s freezing. My son’s lips are purple-blue. I wonder if this is still a good idea, if this was ever a good idea. There are other places we could have gone. Pools where the water temperature is kept at a balmy 86 degrees, where the floor is lowered slowly so he wouldn’t notice the gradual lift as his lungs fill with air…Read more
Here in the Museum of Things Gone Terribly Wrong
by Craig Reinbold
Setting: an outdoor bus terminal and the place is bustling. S—, a native of Mexico City, has been wearing the same reeking T-shirt for most of a week, and he strips it off now, reaching into a bag on the floor next to him for a clean pink polo, which he slips over his head. He loops a belt around his waist…Read more